


when you wish upon a star

by lecornergirl



Series: forever just like this [6]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), F/M, First Time, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Resolved Sexual Tension, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, does birth control exist in the pokemon universe? idk it does now, in this house we do not ship 12-year-olds, like when i say smut i mostly mean dorks figuring it out for the first time, pokemon battles as foreplay, practise safe sex kids, they are explicitly stated to be eighteen, this wasn't supposed to be smut but uh oops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:41:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21526159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lecornergirl/pseuds/lecornergirl
Summary: “Wishing Stars fall down for those who have a true wish in their hearts,” Leon says. Hop immediately starts talking about how he’s going to be the champion, but Gloria finds herself looking at Hop.Because winning the championship is a goal. It’s a plan. But Hop? Hop is definitely a wish.
Relationships: Hop/Yuuri | Gloria
Series: forever just like this [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1016946
Comments: 17
Kudos: 633





	when you wish upon a star

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first pokemon fic so uh here we go i guess
> 
> any recognisable dialogue is directly from the game
> 
> like mentioned in the tags, Hop and Gloria are both 18 in this, because of the shipping and also bc who lets children run around the country unsupervised??

_one_. 

Hop and Gloria disagree about when their first real battle was. 

Hop’s vote is for right after Leon gave them their starters, but Gloria can’t quite bring herself to agree with that. First of all, it was hardly a battle: Hop’s team might have been twice the size of hers, but her Scorbunny had taken them down in no time. Once Scorbunny had learned Ember and gotten Hop’s Wooloo out of the way, it was all over for Hop.

“Did you already know about type advantages?” he had asked, incredulous.

Gloria had raised her eyebrows at him. “Not explicitly, but ‘fire burns plants’ isn’t exactly rocket science.”

Hop had blushed for a moment. “Yeah, fair enough.” But it had only taken a moment for him to regain his usual bouncy, impatient attitude, running over to Leon to bug him about the Gym Challenge.

The other reason Gloria doesn’t consider that their first real battle is that as far as she’s concerned, that battle is when she became a trainer. And since she wasn’t _really_ a trainer when the battle took place, it doesn’t count.

Before that morning she had been content enough to listen to Hop going on and on about Pokemon and his brother and the Gym Challenge, but she hadn’t really been invested. Hop had been her best friend since childhood, so she had a passing interest in his interests, but it didn’t run any deeper than that. 

Until she’d spent an evening playing with and getting to know her Scorbunny, she hadn’t had any real interest in actually training Pokemon. 

And then Gloria experienced for herself the exhilaration of working in tandem with Scorbunny to take down Hop’s team. Choosing Scorbunny’s moves felt instinctive. The PokeBall was like an extension of her limbs.

And Hop’s surprise at being so thoroughly beaten was delicious. He acts so sure of himself, certain that he’s going to be the next champion, but Gloria knows he’s just trying to hide how vulnerable he feels, living in his big brother’s shadow.

If pressed, Gloria would admit she finds the act attractive—after all, who isn’t into confidence?—but she likes seeing the real Hop, sometimes. He doesn’t show that side of himself to just anyone. 

In Gloria’s mind, their first real battle is at Professor Magnolia’s, the night Leon endorses them. She’s had some time to get used to battling with Scorbunny, and they’re starting to feel like a real team. Hop is still running his mouth, and she gets the feeling he’s showing off for Leon.

To be fair, Gloria might also be showing off for Leon a little bit. She’d run into him earlier, outside of the lab, and he’d made a comment about how far her world had already expanded just because she had Pokemon with her.

Gloria had stared at him, uncomprehending. “You mean… to Wedgehurst?” she’d finally managed to ask. “We’re literally just down the road from Postwick. I come here for groceries.”

“Uh, right,” Leon had said, ducking into the lab instead of answering.

So yeah, maybe she’s showing off for Leon a little bit. Let him see that she isn’t just some small-town girl going along with her friend’s every whim. Let him see that she’s in it. Maybe she hasn’t counted down the days to being eighteen, finally old enough to join the Gym Challenge, like Hop has, but now that she’s playing, she’s playing to win.

And she does. Hop puts up slightly more of a fight, but she comes out on top. Hop is upset that he lost, but when he looks at her she sees respect in his eyes, too, and something else that she can’t quite name. Something that sends a shiver down her spine.

The moment is interrupted before she can react, and she’s glad. The Wishing Stars landing just feet away are more than sufficient to distract her from the fact that Hop wasn’t looking away, and neither was she. 

“Wishing Stars fall down for those who have a true wish in their hearts,” Leon says. Hop immediately starts talking about how he’s going to be the champion, but Gloria finds herself looking at Hop.

Because winning the championship is a goal. It’s a plan. But Hop? Hop is definitely a wish. 

_two_.

The night before the Opening Ceremony is the first time they battle two-on-two, and Gloria loves it.

Sure, she’d wiped the floor with Hop the other day, but he’s still a good trainer, considering their level. And she and Hop have been friends for years, practically a decade. They make a good team. He throws a glance her way and she knows he’s going for the Nickit, so she turns to face the Zigzagoon. Her Scorbunny and Hop’s Wooloo deliver their blows in unison, each knocking down their opponent in one move. 

It’s over almost before it begins, and Gloria’s only regret about it being over so fast is that she really likes standing next to Hop, facing down their opponent as one. Battling makes her feel powerful, but battling together with Hop makes her feel like a part of something. 

Hop goes to check them into the Inn, and comes back wearing an expression she doesn’t recognise. “Uh, there was a problem with the rooms,” he says, holding a key. “And by problem, I mean they only seemed to have one for us. The clerk said it’s two beds, though. I guess maybe it’s because the rooms are booked by the League staff and we’re both endorsed by Leon?”

“Yeah, maybe,” Gloria agrees, willing her body not to betray her with a blush and a stutter, even if the idea of sharing a room with Hop sends a thrill through her body. “Not a problem, right? We used to have sleepovers all the time…” she trails off, and she knows Hop is thinking the same thing she is. They haven’t had sleepovers for a couple of years now, not since they stopped changing into swimsuits in front of each other.

“Yeah,” Hop agrees, and she might be imagining it but his voice sounds strained. “It should be fine.”

It’s fine as long as they’re in the elevator, and when they’re walking down the hallway to their room, but it stops being fine pretty much as soon as Hop manages to get the door open. Because the room is very small, and there is only one bed.

“I’m sure the lady at the desk said two beds,” Hop mutters. “I’m going to go double check.”

“Okay,” Gloria says faintly, still staring at the one bed and very decidedly not imagining lying next to Hop on it. The door closes behind him, and she takes the opportunity to brush her teeth and change into her pyjamas.

He comes back quickly, ten different emotions telegraphed across his face. “No can do,” he reports. “With the Opening Ceremony tomorrow, you know, they’re full up. There’s no other rooms.”

“Makes sense.”

Hop looks around, ruffling the hair at the base of his skull. “Uh, I can sleep on the floor. You should have the bed.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Gloria says immediately. “This room is tiny, there’s no space on the floor. We can share the bed. It’ll be fine.”

“But—” he tries to argue, but she cuts him off.

“Hop, the Opening Ceremony is tomorrow. You don’t want to look exhausted on camera, do you?”

Hop as a person is extremely predictable, and Gloria smiles to herself at how easy it was to convince him like this. All talk of sleeping on the floor forgotten, he heads into the ensuite bathroom—equally small to match the room—to get changed, and Gloria pulls back the covers and slips into bed.

There’s a brief moment of awkwardness when Hop gets into bed and his legs are just a little too long, reaching over to brush Gloria’s. He withdraws them hurriedly, muttering an apology and turning away from her, curling up like he’s trying to protect himself from something. 

“Good night,” Gloria says, amusement leaking into her tone. Good to know she’s not the only one on edge from this arrangement. 

She wakes up before he does the next morning, and finds his arm thrown over her and her legs tangled up with his. Her shirt has ridden up during the night and his palm is splayed flat on her stomach, radiating warmth. His pinky finger is halfway tucked into the waistband of her pyjama pants, and she makes a very determined effort not to think about that same hand just a few inches lower. 

Gloria gives herself a minute just to lie there with his hand on her, just in case she never gets the chance again. Then she pulls herself together, admonishes herself for how entirely predictable it all is, and starts getting ready for the Opening Ceremony.

_three_.

In an entirely unsurprising turn of events, Hop is ecstatic after the Opening Ceremony. He’s practically bouncing off the walls, talking a mile a minute to describe it to Gloria.

“I was there, you know,” she says. “Standing right next to you? Caught you when you nearly stumbled when Raihan came out? Any of this ringing a bell?”

“I know, I _know_ , it’s just—” he cuts himself off, flails his arms a little, and sits down, like he’s trying to contain his excitement by making his body smaller. 

“You’re excited, I know,” she says, words coming out fond. “Hey, why don’t we have a battle before heading to Turffield? I feel like you need to channel all this energy somewhere.” 

“Really?” Hop exclaims, jumping to his feet again. 

“Yes, really,” Gloria laughs. “It’s a public service, you’re vibrating so fast you’re going to start shattering glass soon. Plus, I don’t mind kicking your ass every now and then. It’s good practice.”

“Confidence looks good on you,” Hop starts, and Gloria feels her pulse stutter, “but we’ll see who kicks whose ass.” Then he sends out his first Pokemon, and she snorts. 

“Honestly, Hop, you have to give up on this Wooloo. He’s just not going to hold up.” She sends out Scorbunny.

“He was my first Pokemon! There’s a bond!” Hop protests, even as he recalls the already fainted Wooloo into a PokeBall.

“But at what cost?” Gloria muses, taking down the rest of Hop’s Pokemon in quick succession. The battle is over, and she notices her Scorbunny starting to evolve. “Hey, cheers for pushing him up to an evolving level,” she tells Hop, who scowls at her. 

She and Raboot set off down Route 3, and she definitely isn’t thinking about the glint in Hop’s eyes when he said confidence looks good on her. She definitely isn’t already planning for the next time she might happen to run into him.

Galar Mine brings Gloria face-to-face with Bede, just the two of them. He’d already rubbed her the wrong way when she and Hop had seen him at the stadium, but this encounter adds a fresh coat of asshole to her mental image of him. 

He challenges her to a battle, and it just feels _wrong_. It feels different to battling other trainers she’s met on the way, and it’s worlds away from battling Hop. With other trainers, battles are fairly low-stakes. If the other trainer wins, all she loses is a little bit of money. With Hop, though they’re both trying their damnedest to win, there’s an undercurrent of camaraderie, of teamwork, of training against each other to both be the best they can be. They’ve been friends much longer than they’ve been rivals, and no matter how hard Hop tries to beat her, she knows he’d never want to hurt her.

But Bede battles like it’s a question of life or death. Gloria is glad she has a firm upper hand, because she doesn’t want to see what he’d be like if he won. Part of her is a little bit afraid of what he’ll do when he loses, but she passed several mine workers while passing through and she’s sure at least a couple of them are within earshot. Besides, her Raboot may not be very tall, but the whole being able to generate fire aspect is threatening enough that she’s not too worried. 

Unsurprisingly, Bede is not a gracious loser. “I wasn’t trying all that hard anyway,” he mutters as he turns away, and Gloria tries not to laugh.

Despite her victory, battling Bede leaves her a little unsettled. She’s thrown off balance by the anger that radiated from him, and as she tries to figure out how to recenter herself, she finds that she keeps thinking of Hop, wishing he was there. 

He’s waiting for her outside the Turffield Gym, and before she can stop herself she throws her arms around him. His familiar presence is soothing. 

“Uh, hi,” he says, a little bewildered, when she drops her arms again and steps back. 

“Hi,” she says, and grins at him.

_four_.

Hop challenges her again on the bridge on Route 5. He still insists on leading with the Wooloo, and Gloria can’t help but smile as her Scorbunny takes him down with a smooth Double Kick. Wooloo may not be great in battle, but Hop is ridiculously fond of the giant lump of sheep. She can respect that. 

_five_.

_What is it with Bede and being a dick in mines?_ Gloria wonders as she hands his ass to him again in Galar Mine No. 2. He’s still making some kind of remarks, probably meant to be cutting ones about how superior he is, but Gloria is better at tuning them out this time.

The feeling of unease that he leaves her with isn’t as strong as it was the first time, because she had known it was coming. But it’s still a relief when she runs into some Team Yell Grunts and Hop appears seemingly out of nowhere to confront them with her and knock the world back into balance in one fell swoop. 

Hop still insists on leading with that damned Wooloo, but at least the Pokemon seems to have improved a little since the last time they met. Wooloo holds his own against the other team, and even saves her Raboot in the nick of time when the opposing Linoone threatens to knock him out. 

“Maybe your Wooloo isn’t so useless after all,” she admits once the grunts have run off. 

“Told you!” Hop cries, stroking Wooloo’s fluffy sides. “Hear that, Wooloo? Even Gloria admits you’re useful.” 

“There’s a whole spectrum between not useless and useful,” she mutters, but Hop’s smile is infectious.

_six_.

The first indication that something isn’t right comes when she runs into Leon in Hammerlocke. He asks after Hop and mentions that he had seemed down, and Gloria starts to connect the dots. 

“He did lose to that Bede guy,” she says, but even as she’s saying it, it feels like there’s a piece of the puzzle she’s missing. Hop has lost battles before—he loses to her all the time. And she’s never seen him anything but immediately ready to bounce back and try again.

What could Bede have said for the loss to affect him like this?

She’s concerned about him, but the concern turns into full-blown worry when she runs into Hop again at the beginning of Route 6. Some of the Team Yell Grunts are making trouble again, and she expects Hop to join her in battle like last time. But instead he takes a step back, lets her take on the grunts by herself. Hop, who has never turned down a chance for a battle before.

Gloria makes quick work of Team Yell, sending them running in only a couple of moves. Most of her attention is fixed on Hop, who’s sitting on a rock by the side of the road. He’s got his Wooloo out of the PokeBall, and he’s twisting and knotting his fingers in the Pokemon’s thick wool. 

She goes to sit next to him, running her own hand down Wooloo’s side. She’s about to ask what happened, when Hop starts talking of his own accord.

“Look, I know losing is part of battling. It happens. But Bede—he said I was dragging Lee’s good name through the mud, being rubbish like I was… And I just can’t get those words out of my head!”

“Oh, Hop,” Gloria says, in a gentler voice than she’s ever used with him before. “You know Leon is already proud of you just for taking part in the Gym Challenge, right? And it’s the Gym Challenge, not the Bede Challenge. He doesn’t matter, only the Gym Leaders matter. And you’ve already beaten three of them.”

“But Lee—” Hop starts. Gloria puts her hand on his leg, turns to face him, and silences him with a look.

“Lee nothing,” she says firmly. “Hop, you are your own person. What you do only reflects on you, not on your brother. I’ve been waiting ten years for you to step out of Leon’s shadow, and if you don’t do it pretty soon I’m going to drag you out, kicking and screaming.” 

Hop’s eyes are watery, but he doesn’t let the tears fall. “Thanks, Gloria,” he says softly. “You know, you’re the only person in my life who’s never cared about Leon more than they care about me.”

“That’s because you’re my best friend, dumbass, not Leon.” _Also because I’m in love with you and not Leon_ , she adds silently, but now doesn’t seem like the time to bring that up. 

“Thank you,” Hop says again, quietly, and takes her hand. 

They sit in silence for a moment, but Gloria can’t resist adding one more thing. “And, hey, I don’t know if this is going to make you feel better or not, but you should have seen Bede’s face when I destroyed him in the mines. He straight up looked like he was about to cry.”

Hop laughs, and squeezes her hand. 

_seven_.

He challenges her again when she gets to Stow-on-Side, saying he’s ready to try anything to improve as a trainer, and he looks much happier than he did out on Route 6. 

“Hey, no Wooloo,” Gloria says when he sends out Cramorant. “Or are you saving him for last?”

“Guess you’ll have to wait to find out,” Hop says with a wink. 

Hop seems more confident than the last time she saw him, but Gloria still considers throwing the match, just to give him an extra little boost. She ultimately decides against it, and knows it was the right thing to do when Hop thanks her after he loses.

“I know you thought about letting me win,” he says. “I’ve known you long enough, I could read it on your face. Thanks for not doing that.”

“For what it’s worth,” Gloria offers, “this is the hardest it’s ever been for me to beat you.”

“Look, just because you’re some kind of fucking prodigy…” they both laugh. “I’m going to destroy you one day,” he says, like it’s a promise. “You know. With love. But still destroy you.”

“I’ll be waiting,” Gloria says, and spends the rest of the day thinking about his phrasing. 

_eight_.

Gloria has gotten used to Hop popping up every few days, like clockwork. When he shows up on the bridge outside Hammerlocke, just as she’s fresh from defeating Opal in Ballonlea, she’s looking forward to battling him again, to showing off how her Raboot has evolved into Cinderace and how her team just keeps getting stronger.

But her team isn’t the only one getting stronger, and Hop really makes her work for it this time. She’s not sure what’s gotten into him, but he’s on top of his game. He makes all the right moves, uses Potions at exactly the right moments to have her swearing in frustration, and spouts cocky trash-talk at her like it’s his job.

Gloria has never been more attracted to him. It’s kind of messing with her concentration.

Her Pokemon get knocked out at almost the same rate his do, and soon they’re both down to the last Pokemon standing. The only way Gloria is able to win is by basically sacrificing her lower-level Corvisquire so she can slip a Revive to her Cinderace. 

They’re both breathing hard when the battle finally ends. They lock eyes, and Gloria finds it difficult to look away.

“The way you battle…” Hop says. “It kind of reminds me of Lee.”

“Hop. Please stop talking about Lee.”

“Why?” he asks.

“Because,” Gloria says, “I don’t want to think about Lee right now.” She grabs the collar of that stupid jacket he’s always wearing and pulls him down so she can kiss him. 

“What was that for?” he asks, flustered, when they break apart.

“Confidence looks good on you,” she says, echoing him from five gyms ago.

Hop grins, and slips his hand under her shirt. 

_nine_. 

Hop finds her again in Circhester, but she’s with Sonia. They look at each other, and a silent understanding passes between them: whatever happened between them on a bridge outside Hammerlocke should stay between them, at least for now. 

But it’s hard. Hop challenges her to an exhibition match for Sonia, because he is fundamentally incapable of running into people without challenging them to battle, and Gloria has to work very, very hard to concentrateon this battle and not on the memory of what happened the last time they battled. 

Hop’s team is still getting stronger, and they end up at a stalemate. His Corviknight faces off against hers, both the last member of their respective teams, locked in a war of attrition and taking turns Drill Pecking the other until Hop’s Pokemon finally gets in a critical hit and hers passes out. It’s the first time he’s beat her, if only barely, but the triumph in his eyes is quickly being edged out by something else. Something that Gloria suspects is mirrored in hers.

Sonia either doesn’t notice the tension hanging between the two of them or deliberately ignores it. She says something about the Slumbering Weald and her research, but neither Hop nor Gloria pay her any attention. 

As soon as Sonia walks off, Hop grabs Gloria’s hand and tugs her to a staircase leading down from the plaza. It leads to a small park, just a stretch of land and a little pond—and a secluded corner, hidden from sight from most vantage points.

Gloria understands his plan immediately, pushing Hop against the wall. He laughs, like he’s mocking her eagerness.

“Sorry, are you not into this?” Gloria asks with a grin, tucking her hands under his jacket to escape the chill in the air. 

“I am very much into this,” he assures her, cupping her face and kissing her. 

“I can’t believe losing to you made me more attracted to you,” she mutters when they come up for air. 

“Now you know how I’ve been feeling,” Hop says, and leans down to kiss the pulse point on her throat.

“This whole time?” she says, gasping a little when Hop moves, pushing her against the wall instead. 

“Why do you think I’m always challenging you?” he asks, moving his leg between hers, one of his hands finding its way under her shirt and up her side. 

“I thought you were just— _ah_ —competitive.” Her reply is interrupted by a small moan when he starts pushing against her with his thigh. She knows they’re still basically in public, but all she can think about is his hands on her, his leg between hers. She shifts a little, spreading her legs just a hint more to give him a little more access, and bucks her hips against his thigh.

“Well, that too,” he admits. “But it’s mostly about you.” His other hand starts undoing her jeans. He slides his hand into her underwear, her breath catches, and—

Someone clears their throat. Gloria looks up and sees an older man just a few feet away, looking at them disapprovingly. Heat rushes to her cheeks, and she hides her face in Hop’s shoulder. He turns to see what she’s looking at. 

“Uh, sorry,” he says, but she can feel his chest shaking from suppressed laughter.

Gloria does up her jeans, glad that Hop’s body blocks her open fly from the old man’s view. “So I’m going to, uh, go,” she says, trying not to look at Hop or the old man. “I need to, uh… take my Pokemon to the PokeCentre, since you knocked them all out.”

“Gloria!” Hop shouts, but she’s already halfway up the stairs. 

She regrets running out on him as soon as she gets to the Pokemon Centre, but by the time she’s healed up her Pokemon and made it outside again, Hop is nowhere to be found. She wants to head for Spikemuth immediately, since Hop has established a fairly solid pattern of showing up every time she defeats a Gym Leader, but it’s getting dark and she doesn’t want to get stuck on Route 9 for the night.

Gloria gets a room in a hotel in Circhester, but she doesn’t get much sleep. Every time she closes her eyes, she remembers the feeling of Hop’s hand sliding into her underwear, and all the tension between them comes rushing back, like it was never gone in the first place. She tries to ignore it, but her whole body feels on edge and falling asleep is impossible.

Finally, her own hand finds its way between her legs and the other comes up to palm her breast and pinch at her nipple. She thinks of Hop, and it’s only moments before she’s gasping his name into the empty room as she comes. 

_ten_.

Hop is there after Spikemuth, but so are Leon and Sonia. Gloria tries to talk to him, but Hop won’t even look her in the eye. As soon as Leon and Sonia leave he starts to rush off, mumbling something about needing to defeat Piers. 

Gloria grabs his wrist and tries to get him to just stop and listen for a second, but he shakes her off and runs in the direction of Route 7.

She heads in to Raihan’s gym, but her mind is on Hop, and on the hurt she saw in his eyes in the brief moment she managed to catch his gaze. 

Raihan’s is the first gym in the entire Challenge that takes her multiple tries to defeat. 

Well, the first time she loses to him is because she’s distracted about Hop, anyway. The second time is because she tries to brute force her way through instead of taking a moment to think about it. The third time is dumb luck: she and Raihan are both down to their last Pokemon, and his Duraludon somehow manages to hold on to what can’t be more than 2HP, but is enough to deliver the final blow to her Corviknight. 

The fourth time, though, Gloria beats him. 

Hop is there when she comes out, waiting for his turn to challenge Raihan. Gloria tries to talk to him, but he brushes her off and heads straight for the gym doors. 

She doesn’t see him again until Wyndon, when she’s matched up against him in the semifinal after she defeats Marnie. _Finally_ , Gloria thinks, _he’s going to have to look at me_.

When he does, staring at her across the field, she’s surprised to see anger in his eyes. Fury ignites deep within her as well, because she’s starting to put it together now. There is really only one good reason why Hop would still be this hurt and angry about her running out on him, and if he would just stop to _listen_ to her for five seconds, this could all be over.

Hop sends out his Dubwool, still staring her down.

Fine. He wants to do this the hard way? She’ll play ball. She’ll destroy him, if that’s what it takes.

She is fury personified, and Hop doesn’t stand a chance. 

He stalks off after the match and Gloria chases after him, all the way to the Rose of the Rondelands hotel. She doesn’t have a plan, really, but before she can try to come up with anything better than yelling at him they’re confronted by a pair of interviewers. Hop looks like he’d rather be anywhere else, but she’s pretty sure he draws the line as storming off camera on live TV. 

There’s a generic question about the Gym Challenge and the Championship, and then—“If you wanted to tell Challenger Hop something right now, what would it be?”

Gloria doesn’t stop to think, just turns to look at Hop and says “I’m in love with you, dumbass.” She crosses her arms, glaring at him like she’s daring him to react.

Hop swallows. His expression is inscrutable, but she thinks there might be a hint of a smile in there somewhere. “Sorry,” he tells the camera, “we’re done here.” The he grabs Gloria’s wrist and leads her to the elevator. “Explain,” he says as soon as the doors slide shut.

“Explain what?” she demands. “You’re the one who’s been avoiding me.”

“You’re the one who ran away!” he shoots back, and the doors open with a ding. Gloria follows him to a door, both in tacit agreement not to argue in the hallway, and he lets them in.

“I panicked!” she hisses as soon as the door closes behind them. “A stranger literally caught me with my pants down!”

“They weren’t really down,” Hop mutters.

“Besides, I tried to look for you as soon as I got out of the PokeCentre, but you were gone.”

The way Hop looks at her, the vulnerability written across his face, sets off a swarm of Butterfree in her stomach. “I thought it was me,” he says softly. “I thought I did something, I thought I fucked up—”

“Hop, no.” 

“Did you mean it?” he asks, stepping closer. “What you said downstairs?”

“Since we were fifteen,” she breathes. She closes the remaining distance between them, steps into his waiting arms.

Hop cups her cheek. “I love you too, you know.”

“At this point, I’d be surprised if you didn’t,” she says, gesturing at his arms around her.

Hop is laughing as he kisses her. 

“You know,” Gloria whispers in his ear a moment later. “That moment, right before the old guy showed up? I can’t stop reliving it.”

“Oh, yeah?” Hop asks, his breath ghosting over her neck and leaving goosebumps in its wake. “Do you think about my leg here?” He moves his leg again, positioning it between hers like it was in the park in Circhester. 

She rubs against him, more a reflex than anything else. “Yeah, and—”

His hand slides under her shirt, and his thumb teases her nipple through her bra. “Do you think about my hand here?” 

She gasps. “Yeah, and—”

Hop’s other hand goes to her fly, undoing her jeans. “Do you think about this?” he asks, as his hand finally makes the contact she’s been waiting days for. 

“ _Yes_ ,” she says, both a reply and a reaction. 

“You know,” he muses, “I don’t actually—I’ve never done this before.”

“You’re doing fine,” she says, and bites back a swear when his thumb finds her clit.

“Have you ever?” he asks, conversational as anything, like his fingers aren’t coaxing her closer and closer to the edge. “Done this before?”

“Not— _ah_ —not with another person,” she gasps out.

“Is it bad that I kind of like that?” he asks, pushing two fingers inside her, still thumbing at her clit. “That I’m your first?”

Gloria comes with a moan, fingertips digging into Hop’s shoulders. “Raihan was right,” she says when she’s caught her breath. “You do talk too much.”

“Do you really want to think about Raihan right now?” he asks, and gives her a little push so they tumble onto the bed. 

“I really don’t,” she says, already tugging his shirt off. He lifts his hands to help her, and they race to take off the rest of their clothes. 

Hop stares at her breasts in awe, like they’re the best things he’s ever seen. Gloria lets her gaze stray a little lower, pulse racing from a combination of nerves and excitement. She’s only ever had fingers inside her before, her own and now Hop’s, and his dick is bigger than that. 

“Should we—” she starts, then clears her throat and tries again. “Do you have a, uh, a condom?”

“In my bag, yeah.” He gets up to dig through it, and Gloria follows him with her gaze, watching the movements of the muscles under his skin.

It takes Hop a couple of tries to get the condom on, and Gloria finds she feels less nervous, just knowing that he’s nervous too. She’s glad he’s comfortable enough with her to let his usual bravado slip.

There’s a bit of fumbling as he tries to get in position, and then he’s sliding in. It’s a strange sensation, unlike anything she’s ever experienced before. The stretching is a little uncomfortable at first, but Hop’s hands are everywhere, drawing out little gasps of pleasure as he plays with her breasts and reaches down to brush her clit. He seems to know just how to touch her, like he has a map of her body. Soon she’s pushing her hips towards him, encouraging him to start moving, chasing the sensation building within her.

It doesn’t last very long, once Hop starts thrusting. He comes first, groaning, and uses his fingers to make sure she gets there as well. They lie there for a moment, both breathing heavily, until Hop gets up to dispose of the condom. He gets back into bed, and Gloria curls up around him.

“Are you sure that was your first time?” she asks, her fingers drifting idly up and down his stomach. “Your hands sure knew what they were doing.”

Hop blushes. “Lee told me some stuff.”

“Huh,” she says. “I thought he’s with Raihan?”

“He is, but he’s also with Sonia. And Nessa. I don’t really know how it all works, but they all seem happy.”

“Fair enough, I guess.” She laughs. “I would say thank Leon for me, but on second thought, that seems weird.”

“Yeah, I’m not going to do that.” His phone buzzes. It’s a message from his mother: a clip from the interview the previous day, footage of Gloria declaring “I’m in love with you, dumbass”. Her message reads _I would have told you earlier, but I thought you already knew._

_+one._

No one but the Challenger is supposed to be in the locker room before the Championship battles, but Hop sneaks in anyway.

“There’s something I want to try,” he says, and Gloria’s heart flutters. Lower down in her body, something else also flutters. He leads her to a table in the corner and helps her up to sit on it. He starts removing her uniform shorts.

“Hop!” she hisses. “What if someone comes in?”

“They won’t,” he says. “The match isn’t for a while yet. Do you trust me?”

“I do,” she says, and he grins.

“Good.” He pulls her shorts the rest of the way off and kneels in front of her. He pulls her knees apart, slowly, and Gloria gasps as cool air hits her.

Hop goes in slowly, kissing his way up the inside of one thigh and down another. She’s trembling on the table by the time his tongue makes contact with her, short little strokes from bottom to top. He flicks at her clit, and she cries out. He has one hand on her thigh, holding her in place, and the other one comes up to tease her. He slides in one finger, then two. 

His tongue on her clit is inexperienced but her orgasm builds quickly, helped along by his fingers and the thrill of knowing that anyone could just walk in, even if Hop seems convinced no one will. It hits her almost suddenly, and Hop laughs as his head is caught between her thighs. 

Gloria recovers her shorts, and not a moment too soon, because a member of the League staff comes in moments after she finishes getting dressed to tell her the match is starting. 

Hop kisses her, quickly, and for the briefest moment she can taste herself on his lips. He grins. “Knock ‘em dead.”

**Author's Note:**

> tired: shipping Leon/Sonia  
> wired: shipping Leon/Raihan and Sonia/Nessa  
> inspired: shipping Leon/Raihan/Sonia/Nessa


End file.
